Newfound Grace
by dreamrxzxz
Summary: Luke Danes has never been the kind of guy to make a move and even if he was Lorelei Gilmore was not the kind of woman who stood still long enough to let anyone in But what if they were? What if for once things worked out just the way they were supposed to? On hiatus
1. Sparks Fly

Lorelai approached the counter to pay once again taking in Luke's more polished attire. He did look good, _great_ even, he always looked great in flannel but the dressier shirt was a new look for him and Lorelai had to admit she was a fan. She was surprised by the way he could send her heart fluttering with just a simple wardrobe change.

"So how was your ... flagellation was that what you called it?" Luke joked

"Yeah dinner with my parents" Lorelai rolled her eyes.

Luke knew she didn't really get along with her folks and that she didn't see them often "Was there a reason for their contempt?"

"I had to ask them for-" she hesitated not wanting to get into her money troubles with Luke "a favour for Rory's new school and well my mother is going to lord it over me forever so it looks like we will be stuck spending every Friday night with them for the rest of eternity."

He hmmed in his typical Luke way of acknowledgement that said nothing but still somehow seemed heartfelt. "Wait new school? Did Rory get into that fancy private school?"

"Yeah!" She said excitedly.

"Aww man that's great gosh she's been talking about that place for months!" Luke said full of genuine enthusiasm for both Rory and Lorelai.

"She's on the path to Harvard now." Lorelai said sighing watching her little girl grow was both thrilling and a little bit heartbreaking.

"God she's growing up fast." Luke said noticing the way Lorelai's shoulders had sagged clearly she was beyond excited about Rory making her way on her dreams but it was also very obviously difficult for her too.

"I know it seems like just yesterday she was in here begging you to come to that caterpillar funeral of hers." Lorelai said reminding him of when the little girl had given Luke a personal invitation to that strange event.

"God it really has gone by so quickly!" he said reflecting back on all the time that had past since he had first met the Gilmore Girls.

"I know man you've gotta do something about that!" Lorelai joked.

"What?" He seemed caught off guard by the sudden change in conversational direction.

"About her growing so quickly." Lorelai clarifies.

"What do I have to do with her getting older?" Luke asked.

"You're the one who feeds her all the time you've got to stop giving her such big portions slow her growth a little quite putting the human growth hormone in your burgers!" Lorelai joked.

"You know good and well none of that crap is in my burgers and she eats such big portions because she has your metabolism. If I was really in charge of what she was eating she'd be eating much healthier stuff and-"

She cut him off "Okay! Okay! I didn't mean to get you going into full rant mode just trying to ruffle your feathers a little. Anyway I better get going Lane is probably just out of allotted socializing time so Rory will be ready to head home now. Night Luke" she made her way out into the square to collect Rory.

"Good night Lorelai." Luke said watching her leave and thinking about how long he had known Lorelai and all the time that had passed since she had come barreling into his dinner demanding coffee from him all those years ago.

* * *

Lorelai came rushing back into the diner after her crazy day and as she made her way inside she almost barreled right into Luke

"What are you doing here?" he said gruffly.

Rolling her eyes, she said "See, now, that's why you were voted Mr. Personality of the New Millennium. Where's your crown?" Lorelai joked he could run so hot and cold with her she wondered what she had done to set him off in this moment.

"I just mean you don't usually come in at this time." He explained grabbing the pot of coffee to pour her a fresh cup.

"Well, I have to pick up Rory from school." She sighed and then noticed the coffee he was pouring for her. "Thank you." She said

"No lectures?" She was surprised and had to admit a little disappointed that he hadn't hassled her about her caffeine intake.

"My blood sugar's low. I'll eat an apple and get back to you." He responded with his typical dry humor at least that was normal Lorelai thought.

Luke's attitude was the first thing at all today that had felt familiar to her. "Hm. God, this has been one hectic, bizarro day for me." she complained.

"Yeah?" he asked seemingly genuinely interested in what she was going to say rather than just placating her. Lorelai loved that about Luke he never put on any airs, he was such a straight shooter she could always tell when he asked her what was wrong he sincerely wanted to know.

"Yeah." She hadn't even meant to complain out loud but she desperately needed to vent and Luke was usually quite willing to listen, he may even have some advice he was a good guy like that.

"This morning with the being late, and my mother with her existing." She said rolling her eyes Emily was beyond exhausting.

Forgetting for a moment that this was Luke who she was talking to she complained "Oh, and this father, this father from Chilton, he, uh, drove out to the inn all the way from Hartford just to ask me out." She looked up as she said this and noticed that Luke wasn't making any eye contact with her.

"Really? You going?" Luke asked evenly.

The question Caught Lorelai off guard he was nonchalant about which Lorelai didn't want to spend time trying to decide if his indifference bothered her. He asked it so casually and without any kind of pretense so maybe she was just reading way too much into things. She found herself answering honestly "No. He's got a kid in school with Rory, and the whole thing just seemed a little weird."

"Oh, good." He said again in the same casual tone

This time his response did catch her attention even with the casual tone her mind raced as the possible implications. Needing more than just that one word from him that could mean so many different things she tried to clarify what he meant by asking "Good?"

"Yeah, I think it's good that you turned him down."

"Okay." Alarm bells were ringing in her head what could he possibly mean? She didn't want to analyze what she was feeling in this moment, she was definitely reading way too much into things. He clearly didn't mean anything by it she was being irrational or was she?

"I mean, he's probably old, right?" Luke asked.

"Old?" or maybe she was wrong and she _had _completely misread things.

"Yeah. I mean, he's got a kid in high school." Luke explained

"Well, so do I." she tried to defend he probably thought nobody but old men were interested in her. God! what had she been thinking? He obviously wasn't interested and so what if he was Lorelai? It's not like you are interested in him she thought to herself.

"Yeah, but you were young when you had Rory. Most people aren't that young. Most people are, uh. . ." Luke tried to explain him self better clearly he wasn't getting the message he intended across.

"Old." Lorelai said wrinkly her nose a little She wondered how this conversation had gotten so off track.

"Yeah." Luke nodded

"Like this guy who asked me out." She felt like a total fool for having thought that Luke was interested in her, he felt sorry for her that the only guys who were willing to hit on her were these old guys from Rory's school.

"But you're not going." Luke said.

"No, I'm not going." They shared a long look and Lorelai could honestly say she felt more confused than ever. Was she interested in Luke sure she flirted but that was just her nature she flirted with all men hell sometimes even some women, just because she flirted did not mean she was interested. They talked nearly every day and he had her order memorized but it's not like she got any special treatment she was purely a customer to Luke. _Except_ he did come over and fix things at the Crapshack an awful lot, and he always made sure that he got Rory a card and a gift for her birthday. Not to mention the countless times he'd undercharged her for food because he was worried the two of them would go hungry. Well either way it didn't matter! Luke certainly wasn't interested in her.

"So your free then?" Luke asked giving Lorelai what could only be described as emotional whiplash.

"Free?" Now she was back to wondering if he _was_ really going to ask her out.

"To … to see other people …because you said no to this guy so that means that if somone else asked you would be free to go if you wanted to with someone else"

Lorelai wasn't sure she had ever heard Luke string that many words together; other than when he was ranting.

After recovering from her initial shock she blurted out her response "Yes!"

She was surprised at her own enthusiasm she answered again this time with a more level tone "Yes… if someone else were to ask I would be free" Hoping to at least sound somewhat casual. Was there moment finally coming after years of back and forth and unfinished conversations would today finally be the day that things clicked for them. She couldn't believe the way this constant stopping and starting between them would come to a head if one of them would finally just bite the bullet and go for it.

"Ok." And he went back to wiping down the counter.

Lorelai thought that the moment had passed and that she was imagining a connection that wasn't really there. After that she finished her coffee quietly and didn't offer up any more conversation to Luke.

When it came time for her to leave and she was handing him her change she felt a spark as their hands brushed and they caught each other's eye and she suddenly felt the heat of their previous conversation come back.

"Lorelai" he said her name in a way that was somehow both soothing and unnerving all at once would you maybe like to get dinner together sometime?" he his tone was confident and assured like the thought had only just occurred to him to ask her out, But his deep blush betryayed his true shyness.

Lorelai flashed a thousand-watt smile and for a moment all she could do was nod enthusiastically in a way that was not becoming of the subtlety she usually tried to present when interacting with the opposite sex. But the idea of a date with Luke suddenly made her unbelievably giddy and as she finally squeaked out a "Yes!"

She felt that all the blood had rushed to her cheeks. She wanted to think that would account for her lightheadedness but she suspected that Luke might just have that effect on her.

"Um does Saturday night work for you? … around 7 o'clock?" he appeared to be more nervous now that he'd finally asked the question but he still held a small smile on his face that allowed Lorelai to know that he too was excited.

"That's perfect!" Lorelai said still full of enthusiasm

"I'll see you...before then, but I'll see you then, too." Luke said.

"Yeah, I'll see you both of those thens." Lorelai said waving goodbye to him Lorelai could swear she felt his eyes following her as she walked down the street but she resisted the urge to turn back to look.

* * *

**Hey so I've had the idea for this story in my head forever and I've honestly had parts of this chapter written back in march but I've been hesitant to post mostly because It still needs a ton more editing and revamping but the reason Im posting it is because I think that its a fun concept for a fic and I'm looking for someone to help me out as a beta and I'm hoping that if i post this someone might reach out an offer their help because I could really use it obviously lol. Anyway leave a review or Pm me if your into the story and want to find out more of the direction Im going with it. hope this is somewhat readble and not just a complete mess but if it is keep in mind that it mostly a draft and I'll end up swapping it out for a more polished version at some point in the near future. **


	2. It could burn out

Lorelai and Rory had just finished discussing Rory's day at Chilton when they began to approach the dinner. Lorelai realized that she had failed to mention her date to her daughter. She was not entirely sure how to broach the subject with her so tried for a casual tone "Hey, what do you think of Luke?" She asked

"What do you mean?" Rory peaked into the dinner window to see what her mother was staring at, unsurprisingly it was the man in question.

Lorelai realized being subtle wasn't going to work so she decided to just be direct "I mean, do you think he's cute?" asking in a leading voice.

"Oh, no. No way." Rory shook her head attempting to lead her mother away from the diner.

Lorelai felt her stomach sink preparing herself for the worst she asked "No way what?"

"You cannot date Luke." She said in an decisive voice when she turned back around Rory saw the stricken look on her mother's face. She was immediately suspicious "You already did something! what did you do?"

"I- " Lorelai started but she was cut off by an angry and accusatory diatribe by Rory.

"If you date him, you'll break up, and we'll never be able to eat there again! Our Luke - the town Luke. We see him every day. He's a part of our lives. You know how important he is hes like a- Hes a huge part of our lives if you guys broke up we'd never see him again!" Rory finished in a huff!

"Ok first of all I haven't even said what happened between us!" Lorelai tried to defend

"Well clearly something happened why have you been keeping this from me why would you lie to me!" Rory was mad this was important! She couldn't believe her mother was keeping something so huge from her. She had spent all evening ranting about Chilton when her Mom clearly had major drama going on! With Luke!

"I said nothing about dating Luke." Lorelai said which was not technically a lie since she hadn't brought the subject up yet. She did feel bad for not telling Rory right away so she decided she needed to fess up. "It only happened today I wasn't thinking. I didn't not tell you! _This is me telling y_ou! Besides it was nothing he only asked if I wanted to get dinner I'm not dating Luke!"

"That sounds like dating to me!" Rory accused.

"But maybe he didn't mean it as a date thing. Lorelai attempted to justify the situation to Rory. "Maybe he just needed to get out of the house, and since I'm currently one of the women sitting home, thinking, _If I could only find a man like Aragorn_, he picked me." She said in a poor imitation of Luke's voice.

"Mom please be serious? Why wouldn't you tell me?" More than anything Rory felt hurt that her mom felt she couldn't share this with her.

"Cause I thought you were going to take it bad. Thank God I was wrong. OK, OK. Listen, I'm sorry. I won't date him. I promise." Lorelai tried to assuage Rory's obvious fears.

"I'm not saying that you can't date him." Rory said

"You just said I couldn't and outlined very clearly why it would be an absolutely _terrible_ disaster." Lorelai said.

"Yeah but I can't stop you if you really like him" Rory told her

"I never said how I felt about him!" Lorelai said defiantly.

Rory gave her a look "Did you say yes?"

"What?" Lorelai said attempting to dodge the question.

Rory rolled her eyes her mother could be so stubborn "To dinner Did you say yes?" she asked impatiently.

"Yes." Lorelai replied meekly.

"Well clearly you want to go and he's expecting you to go and it would just make things awkward to cancel now." Rory felt bad she had been so against the whole idea when clearly Lorelai had been excited and wanted to go.

"I'm not going! No way. " She said attempting to sound firm but Rory could detect the waver in her voice. "I'll just explain to him that it not a good idea and I don't want to jeopardize our friendship he'll understand that." Lorelai said sounding even more dejected if that was possible. It would suck and it would make things totally paniful and awkward Luke would be upset and hurt and totally confused but if she explained it was for Rory he would get it... probably.

It was not at all what Lorelai wanted but she would do anything for Rory. Even if it meant affecting her happiness, she was her little girl and she would always come first no matter how much it might hurt.

"I don't want to be the reason your unhappy!" Rory said seeming to almost read Lorelai's thoughts.

"You are not!" Lorelai reassured her "All the reasons you just said are why I cant go it would be terrible and I didn't even really know if it was a date when I agreed to it" Lorelai lied through her teeth.

"No those were stupid! That was all assuming you would breakup! What if Luke is the right guy for you and I made you cancel on him just cause it might be awkward for me? That's selfish! If you like him you should absloutley go for it! In fact I will be mad at you if you don't!" Rory argued Lorelai was not the only one who could be stubborn.

"Ok holy 180 batman way to completely change your tune!" Lorelai joked "who says I even want to go that badly?" She tried to downplay her feelings still worried that Rory would forbid her from going once again.

"The completely devastated look on your face when I told you I didn't want you to go for one." Rory pointed out. "Plus you and Luke have been flirting with each other for years its about time you guys test your chemistry. If it goes terrible we avoid the dinner for a few weeks till things blow over Luke is a good guy he wouldn't make things awkward what harm can one date do?" Rory insisted.

"I don't know.." she was suddenly hesitant wondering if maybe perhaps Rory had been right in the first place.

"I think youll regret it even more if you don't go." Rory said sincerely

"Well if your absolutely sure." Lorelai said hopefully.

"I am!" Rory smiled she was suddenly very excited at the prospect.

"Ok but if you change your mind at any time!" Lorelai insisted

"I won't!" Rory was completely on board now.

"Even if its in the middle of the date and I have to fake a terrible sudden stomach virus.."

"Mom!" Rory cut her off sensing a long monoluge coming if she didn't.

"Ok I'll go! God your pushy!" Lorelei teased.

"I get it from you." Rory joked back

Rory was excited her Mom and Luke were going on a date she couldn't believe she had though it was a bad idea at first. If she were honest with herself she had always kind of hoped that the two of them would connect. When her mom had brought it up tonight Rory was worried she hadn't been serious and was only going to mess things up between the two of them. But Rory could see now that her mother genuinely had feelings for Luke which she always suspected, she was just relived to see that Lorelai was beginning to recognize those feelings for herself.

* * *

**ok sorry for the total lack of Luke in this chapter but this was an important conversation for the two of them to have. I hope I did ok in keeping in line with what might have been a relatstic reaction from Rory. I know she was initially wary but I alwys felt that if Lorelai had been more upfront about her feelings then Rory wouldn't have minded I mean she let her go out with her teacher for god sakes. I think she would have caved on Luke espicially with the added elment of an already agreed upon date. Speaking of which what do you want to see on their date ? I'm still looking for a beta. So if your interested message me or leave a review or something this chapter is honestly even more rough than the last one but I wanted to get it out there so I could get moving on the more fun parts of the story. I've got lots of ideas for where I want to take things but let me know things you want to see I love exploring the way the show may have been different if Luke and lorelai got together this early on. **


	3. update on story status

**Sorry this is not an update I just wanted to let you know that I am putting this story on hiatus for the moment i've just gotten incredibly busy and i am feeling less inspired by it so I've decided to focus the time i do have for writing on projects that have me excited to write.**


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